a) Field of the Invention
The invention is directed to a side holder of an antiskid chain with a closure for connecting the two free ends of a shackle strand.
b) Description of the Related Art
Side holders of this type are described in a number of texts and serve to hold a running netting placed over the tread of a tire on the tread, wherein the running netting is connected to the side holders contacting both sides or flanks of the tire with specially constructed fastening hooks.
In most known constructional forms of antiskid chains of this kind, the side holder provided on the outer flank of the tire is formed of a chain, whereas the side holder provided on the inner flank of the tire is formed of a shackle strand constructed as a one-piece, springing-elastic ring which has an opening and can be formed, in turn, from a wire or a rope-like strand.
Shackle strands of the type mentioned above make it easier to tighten the antiskid chain on the tire because they are already shaped according to the shape of the tire.
However, the shackle strand lying on the inner side of the tire must be closed after the antiskid chain is tightened on the tire, i.e., its two free ends must be joined to or connected with one another.
Many different connection forms have been proposed for this purpose, mostly hook closures and eyelet closures such as those known, for example, from DE 16 05 675 C3 and EP 0 274 981 A2.
DE 16 05 675 C3 describes a closure for the side holder of an antiskid chain with a hook which is nondetachably suspended in an end link of the side holder, is constructed as a flat web and has an insertion opening defined by its nose for the other end link of the side holder which is to be connected therewith in a nondetachable manner.
For this purpose, the hook is formed by a plate-shaped, flat stamped part having, at one end, a nose which extends diagonally in the direction of the other end of the hook and which has an insertion opening for the other end link of the side holder to be connected with it, wherein the eyelet is produced from a stamped part whose flat sides or legs in the closed position lie parallel to the side surfaces of the hook whose nose engages around the web of the eyelet, which web is not as high as the legs, wherein the clearance of the eyelet between the legs is only slightly greater than the thickness of the hook.
This known closure has a relatively large installation height, i.e., it projects over the flanks of the tire provided with the antiskid chain more than the side holder lying on the flank.
A similar closure is described in EP 0 274 981 A2 in which the side holder is constructed as a one-piece springing-elastic ring and one end of the side holder is constructed as a flat hook which extends parallel to the flank of the tire and projects into an eyelet which is provided at the other end of the side holder and which is arranged at 90.degree. to the hook plane. In this case, also, the installation height of the eyelet above the tire flank is distinctly greater than the installation height of the side holder or of the springing-elastic ring forming the shackle strand.
Finally, in another known antiskid chain, the shackle strand is constructed as a steel rope and each of its free ends is provided with a thickened portion. The closure for connecting the two ends is constructed as a sleeve-shaped pipe segment whose inner diameter corresponds to the outer diameter of the thickened portions. In its middle area, this pipe segment has an opening in its wall which should be large enough to allow the thickened portion of an end of the shackle strand to be inserted through this opening into the interior of the pipe segment, wherein the wall of the pipe segment has a slit from this opening to one of its two ends, which slit corresponds approximately to the diameter of the shackle strand, so that the latter can also be brought into the interior of the pipe segment from the side together with the thickened portion. The open ends of the pipe segment are deformed toward the inside to such an extent that the two ends of the shackle strand can still be guided through but the thickened portions are held in the interior of the pipe segment, wherein the end located opposite to the end of the pipe segment provided with the slit has no slit, but rather encloses the other thick end securely and nondetachably.
However, the diameter of this known closure is so large compared to the shackle strand, and therefore compared to the side holder, that it occupies a greater height when lying on the flank of the tire than the side holder itself. This is because twice the thickness of the walls of the pipe segments is added to the diameter of the thickened portions of the ends of the side holder.
Finally, DE-GM 89 02 454 discloses closing members which form the closure of a side holder constructed as a spring steel shackle at the respective ends of the shackle strand which are constructed identically to one another in a mirror-inverted manner and are fastened to the respective opposite ends of the spring steel shackle. Each of the closing links is stamped out of sheet steel, for example, and has two rivet holes at its end which faces the respective end of the spring steel shackle, wherein a counter-piece which engages around the end of the spring steel shackle in a clamping fit is riveted to the rivet holes. Further, every closing member is provided roughly in its center with an approximately rectangular cutout and has, near its free end, a closing hook which is formed by bending a sheet metal tongue out of the sheet steel of the base plate of the respective closing member in a suitable manner. This steel tongue is directed opposite to the closing direction, that is, in the direction of the respective spring steel shackle, so that it forms a closing hook which acts opposite to the closing direction. The sheet metal tab or tongue forming the closing hook extends diagonally outward in the vicinity of the free end of the respective closing member from the surface of the latter, i.e., toward the side of the closing member which is not provided for contacting the side cheek of the tire, and toward the cutout. The tongue is bent parallel to the surface of the closing member and runs parallel to the clamping plane of the closing member in the direction of the cutout, wherein it narrows in diameter toward its free end. The portion between the end portion of the tab and the surface of the closing member is not substantially larger than its sheet metal thickness. Further, the width of the portion of the tongue projecting from the surface is only slightly less than the width of the cutout. The closing hooks of the two closing members spring forward toward the same side and, together with the two cutouts, lie flush on a line of the closing direction. The closing members in turn lie in the plane defined by the spring steel shackle and can hook onto one another regardless of whether the two closing members lie in the front or in the back. Due to the fact that these closing members come to rest against one another, have projecting closing hooks which project from the surface of the closing members, specifically to the extent that they can absorb the thickness of the oppositely located closing members, there results a large installation height of the closure above the flank of the tire provided with the antiskid chain.
Besides the known closures described above, the fastening hooks for the running netting which are produced from simple round wires and are provided at the side holder have an installation height such that they project relatively far into the open space above the flank of the tire.
As was stated above, all of the known side holders have in common that they project relatively far or high above the flank of a tire with their closures and fastening hooks, that is, they occupy a greater height than the side holder or shackle strand which also lies on the flank of the tire. This projecting distance over the tire flanks brought about by the large installation height of the closure parts is disadvantageous precisely with respect to passenger automobiles of modern construction because the manufacturers of such passenger cars provide less and less free space between the tires on the one side and the interior frame or wheel housing of the vehicle on the other side. In particular, the space available between the inner side of a tire and the vehicle itself is constantly decreasing, so that precisely the side holder of the antiskid chain arranged on the inside of the tire must be designed in a particularly space-saving manner with respect to its space requirement.